


Behind the Studio Lights

by TheHandOfTyr



Category: Neon Genesis Evangelion, Rebuild of Evangelion | Evangelion: New Theatrical Edition
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:15:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21716725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheHandOfTyr/pseuds/TheHandOfTyr
Summary: Mari really needed a photographer for an upcoming gig that could kickstart her modeling career the only problem was that Kensuke seemed the only viable option. So why does she keep him so close to her even when they're not shooting together?
Relationships: Ayanami Rei/Souryuu Asuka Langley, Horaki Hikari/Suzuhara Touji, Ikari Shinji/Nagisa Kaworu, Kaji Ryouji/Katsuragi Misato, Makinami Mari Illustrious/Aida Kensuke
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20





	1. Autumnal begginings

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys Haven't written in a while so I thought I would give it another go with a rarepair and the super cliche highschool AU Hope you enjoy!

‘Smack’

“You better put that damn camera down four eyes or i’ll give it a once in a lifetime angle of where the sun doesn't shine!”

Shinji audibly groaned as he saw his friend Aida Kensuke knocked to the ground scrambling to put his camera and the various books and papers back into his bookbag while the person who caused him to fall Asuka Langley stood proudly over him.

“S-sorry Asuka just thought i’d video a little bit ya know? With it being the first day and all…”

“Oh!” asuka drawled a sly smirk on her face. “Just like how in middle school you used to take pictures of me and sell them to the other boys?” 

Kensuke immediately flinched at her comments and seemed to shrivel into himself more when the people standing around began immediately speaking into hushed whispers the only thing kensuke could make out was silent laughs lobbed at his direction. “Please don’t bring that up Asuka.” Kensuke barely breathed out in embarrassment.

“Come on Asuka cut that out.” Shinji immediately started making his way through the small crowd that had formed around the two. Asuka seemed completely oblivious to anyone other than Kensuke until shinji had approached her. She immediately brought her glare down on Shinji which caused him to avoid her glaze. “What are you gonna do about it stupid Shinji?”

Shinji looked down to where Kensuke was slowly getting back to his feet and tried slowly backing up while Asuka was preoccupied with Shinji but she shifted her gaze to him and he froze in the position he was in like one of the toy soldiers he kept in his room.

“Well Asuka if you don’t stop..” Shinji gulped understanding what he was about to do was a low blow. “I’ll tell everyone here about how I found that scrapbook in your room filled with pictures of-” before shinji could finish Asuka clamped her hand over his mouth and spoke through gritted teeth. “You wouldn't dare.” She had become as red as her hair and stormed off leaving an exhausted Shinji left to check up on Kensuke as the crowd dispersed.

“You alright Kensuke?” shinji couldn't help but feel bad for Kensuke as he wiped off the dirt off his pants and tried his best to collect himself.

“I was just trying to get some B roll of the school and she ran into me.” Kensuke began to briefly examine his camera for damage before putting it back into his bag. “Is she like this when you guys are home too?”

Shinji sighed as he looked back in the direction where Asuka had stormed off. “Not usually Kaji has been away on business the past couple weeks this is the first year he hasn't driven her to school.” 

“Hey Shinji, Kensuke!” both boys looked up to see toji walking in their direction shoving a half eaten bag of chips in between the mounds of crumpled up papers and school supplies.

“What happened to you guys meeting up with me in the lunchroom before class starts? I only got to eat so much before I went looking for you.”

Shinji was opening his mouth for a response before toji leaned into him wrapping and arm around his shoulder. “I’m guessing you and kaworu got a little preoccupied and forgot about it, didn't you?” 

Shinji Immediately began sputtering in response to Toji mentioning his boyfriend. “W-what no me and Kensuke where just talking not to mention Asuka didn't wake me up so Misato had to drive me here.” 

The boys conversation was cut short due to the warning bell signaling them that they were about to be late to their first class of the new year. After a hasty wave goodbye all three ran in opposite directions to class.

* * *

“Uh all of my classes are gonna be a drag this semester.” Asuka groaned as she plopped onto the bench. Sitting across from her was a blue haired girl silently watching her as she tore open her lunchbox spilling the contents across the table. “Not to mention stupid Shinji only made sandwiches today,Kaji is not gonna be home until wednesday and Misato keeps trying to take me shopping cause she wants to spend girl time with me.” Asuka briefly paused her tirade waiting for her friend to chime in but she continued to look at her with a leveled glance.

“Even Kensuke got in my way this morning because I was running late. I already live with one, another one is in this stupid dance of ‘will they won’t they’ with Hikari I don’t need the third member of the doofus squad filming me!”

“Doesn’t Kensuke always film things?” Asuka looked at her friend as she broke her silence.

“What’s your point Rei?”

“Maybe he was filming something other than you.” upon finishing her statement Rei began eating herself taking more reserved bites than Asuka who was wolfing down the lunch she was complaining about earlier.

“Of course he was do you know the little pervert we’re talking about? He was probably foaming at the mouth at the thought of filming me agia-”

Before she could finish her statement she felt someone slide next to her and felt her patience ride thin when she felt an arm around her shoulder. “My my is the princess having a bad day?” Asuka grit her teeth when she turned and saw that smug grin Mari always seemed to have on her. “What princess it’s just the first day i’m sure you'll settle in.”

“Oh look it’s Mari I can already feel my day turning around…” Asuka rolled her eyes and shrugged Mari’s arm off of her shoulder making Mari’s grin grow wider. “Were you able to keep up in your classes today or did you have to flirt with some boy to read it for you?”

Mari immediately scowled at Asuka’s comment but coyly smiled again in an attempt to prevent Asuka getting any satisfaction from her statement. “Well ill have you know a pretty popular pop group is shooting a music video in the next couple weeks and sending out requests for extras. This could be the big push I need to get my foot in the door for my modeling.”

“Congratulations Mari that is very good news.” Rei stated looking up from her thermos and giving a warm smile.

“Yeah Mari that’s awesome when do you have to go?” Asuka looked over at Mari who was fumbling with her phone avoiding eye contact.

“Well here’s the thing... “ Mari sounded out of breath and started tapping the corner of her phone against the lunchroom table. “I haven’t applied for it yet.”

“What!”

“Well it does seem that you would need to apply for you to be accepted wouldn't it?” Rei asked bluntly

“Of course I know that Ayanami!” Mari hissed at Rei but quickly hung her head again as she put her hands over her face. “Sorry, it's just that I need to submit pictures of yourself.”

“So what’s the issue you want to be a model you can’t exactly be sheepish about photos of you.” Asuka lackadaisically stated taking a sip of her juice.

“I don’t have any good pictures of me other than ones of me hanging out with you guys.” Mari said exasperatedly. “The ad said it had to be a solo picture.”

“Why not just take a selfie?” Asuka blurted out as if it were the most obvious answer

“I want the photos to be of more than my face plus I feel like most girls applying are gonna do that.”

“Would taking a picture using the mirror suffice?” Rei asked not looking up from the food she was eating while the other two’s lunches sat uneaten.

“I really want it to look professional.” Mari fumbled out her face flush in embarrassment. “This could be my big shot guys ya know.”

“Well Mari you have to apply to get accepted and to apply you need photos and you refuse to take photos so maybe we should focus on that at the moment.” Asuka said with sarcasm which only caused Mari to groan with frustration.

Mari’s eyes immediately shot up from the table and locked eyes with the two girls. “Why don’t you guys take photos of me?” 

“Sorry Mari I can’t”

“Nope.”

“Why not?” Mari whined looking more akin to a drowning man than a highschool student.

“I have lacrosse tryouts today.” Asuka began lazily throwing her trash back into her lunch bag, an action that seemed to irk Rei when there was a trashcan not even five feet away from them. “Not to mention i’m pretty terrible at taking photos so it would probably do you more harm than good if I'm being honest.”

Mari desperately glanced in Rei’s direction. “Well what about you Rei?”

“I told Asuka already that I would accompany her to tryouts for support.” A statement that caught Mari’s attention and made Asuka seem to study the grains of wood on the lunch table they were seated at. “I am also not good at taking photos but maybe I can offer assistance in another way.”

“Like how?”

“I do not know.”

Mari Dramatically threw her face into her hands and let out a muffled scream. “Well don’t you guys know anyone who can do it?”

“Yeah sure Mari I’ll call Joseph Pulitzer in for you later today he owes me a couple of favors.” Asuka said grinning.

“Shut up Asuka!” mari growled out in frustration.

“Kensuke could help you.” 

Rei’s statement immediately seized the other two’s arguing.

“Who’s Kensuke?” Mari blurted out leaning across the table to Rei unable to contain her excitement.

“He is one of Shinji’s friends. He mostly records videos but shinji has shown me a few of his photographs he is quite talented.”

Mari could barely contain her excitement before Asuka smacked both of her hands on the table. “Absolutely not!”

“Why not Asuka?” Mari was looking at Asuka incredulously uncertain why Asuka was so against the idea.

“Well other than the fact that he is one leg of the bonehead trio the guy is a total pervert! Back in middle school he was taking pictures of- Ouch” Asuka immediately stopped her tirade from a swift kick in the shin from Rei. When Asuka looked up she saw Rei giving her a level glare which signalled for Asuka to cut the story short. 

“Look I don’t care I just hear that there’s a good photographer and I'm desperate just let me know what he looks like and where I can find him.”

Asuka looked at Rei again and sighed pulling out her phone and after a quick search through she found a picture from when they all went to the aquarium with Misato and Kaji. Pulling up the picture she turned the phone to Mari. “He’s the doofus with the glasses.”

Mari began to giggle at the sight of him. “He looks so nerdy this should be a piece of cake convincing him.”

“He should be in the art building next period.” Rei stated as she stood up from her seat signalling it was time for them to go to their next classes. “Asuka do you want to walk to our english class together?”

  
  


Mari couldn't help but notice how Asuka’s cheeks were tinged pink and how she was avoiding eye contact with Rei. “Yeah sure whatever. See ya around Mari.” the two girls then began walking away leaving only a very exited Mari at the table.

“Well Mari wouldn't you know…” Mari smugly muttered to herself as she pulled her schedule sheet out smoothing out the creases. “You have art next period as well.”

* * *

Kensuke sighed with relief as he sat in his seat at an already dirty art table. “Two math classes, a history class and chemistry.” He cracked his fingers as he pulled out a sketchbook and laid it on one of the few clean spots in his little work area. “Now the course that actually matters.”

Kensuke had hoped that he was able to convince Shinji or Toji to select art as an elective but Shinji had stuck to band because he enjoyed playing cello and couldn't say no when Kaworu asked if he would join him for band again. 

Toji had initially picked art but from all the classes he needed to make up he was only able to take one elective and everyone knew he needed gym class to let out some of that energy.

So Kensuke awkwardly sat alone at his art table watching as students filed in chatting amongst themselves while he just tried keeping himself occupied doodling in his sketchbook.

“Whatcha drawing there?” Kensuke’s focus and ability to speak was lost when he looked over and saw who was sitting next to him. Her teal eyes were looking down on his rudimentary drawing but shifted to look at him when she noticed his lack of response. “Oh come on you can talk to me I don’t bite.”

Kensuke Felt his whole neck and face go red and began to sputter. “I-it’s an army truck they were decommissioned about twenty years ago but they can still be found in private collections all over the country.” he immediately wanted to punch himself in the face with how nerdy he sounded but Mari smiled in response.

“Well that’s new…” Mari slowly took out her own sketchbook covered in pink and cut out pictures of various designer brands and began slowly tapping a manicured nail against it. “No offence but I couldn't really tell.”

Kensuke felt himself coil into the collar of his own shirt from embarrassment. “Yeah drawing is not exactly my strong suit.” 

“Well you're in luck because i’m pretty terrible myself.” Mari then began thumbing through her sketchbook showing very scratched together and patchwork sketches that Kensuke couldn't help but smile at her objectively bad drawings.

“W-well then I guess we should even eachother out.” Kensuke said and immediately hating the silence between the two hoping he didn't offend her. 

Then Mari began to softly giggle and Kensuke himself felt relief and let himself smile a little bit.

“So if you aren't good at drawing what are you good at?” Kensuke seemed shocked that Mari seemed so interested in him but didn't want to stop talking to her so he continued. “Well My passion is videography but I also do a little bit of photography too.” Kensuke immediately began rummaging through his bag and fished out his camera and set it on the desk proudly. “What about you what do you like doing for art?”

Mari grinned at him before running her fingers through her hair. “Well I actually like modeling for photographs myself.” she then gave Kensuke a wink. “Who knows maybe we can pair up for a group project sometime. Play up to each others strengths.”

Luckily for Kensuke who was busy choking on air the teacher had arrived in the room signalling for the class to go silent while Kensuke was left baffled and unable to pay attention for the lesson.

Most of the class after that was pretty uneventful with the teacher giving students free reign to draw as long as they were quiet. Kensuke just tried to keep himself occupied and limiting his stealing glances at Mari to a minimum

The bell finally signalled the end of the first day of the school year but Kensuke was interrupted from packing his bag by a hand gently touching his forearm which made his whole body go cold.

“Hey you said you did photography right?” Mari asked leaning in dangerously close to Kensuke making himself freeze.

“Y-yeah why do you ask?” Kensuke was surprised that he was even able to make that much of a sentence due to how he could barely take in air.

“Well I actually need someone to take some pictures of me for an audition and I was hoping you could actually help me out.” Mari then leaned in even closer to where Kensuke could feel her breath on his cheek.

“S-sure thing. Whatever you need.” Mari then immediately let go of his wrist and stood up walking toward the door.

“Sounds good I’ll see you saturday…” as she looked over her shoulder back at him she said coyly. “Your names Kensuke right?”

“How did you know?” Kensuke asked incredulously.

“Role call.” She said flatly before winking at him. “My names Mari by the way it was nice meeting you.”


	2. Ivy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp this took longer than expected but hey that's life I guess...

“Rei i’m just saying you should think about buying this you never know it might be a style you never knew you liked.” Rei held the hanger of a grey cropped hoodie as if it would burn her if her hand touched the fabric. “Absolutely not.”

After Rei’s comment Mari delicately plucked it from Rei’s hand. “Well if we’re being honest i’m kinda glad because I want it.” Mari then slung the hoodie over her shoulder with the rest of the clothes she had taken.

“Mari you said you’d only be buying one outfit.” Asuka said voice dripping with annoyance. “You know I might start getting the wrong idea and you’re trying to impress four eyes.” Mari took Asuka’s tease with stride adjusting her glasses she plainly replied. “Please if I wanted to impress Kensuke all I have to do is show up.”

Asuka just shrugged looking down on the few things she had picked up before turning to Rei. “Are you sure you don’t want to get anything Rei? It feels weird me and Mari are the only two getting anything.”

Rei looked around the store sheepishly and began rubbing her arm. “I really don’t see anything in here I could see myself wearing.” Asuka blushes slightly looking around to see the tops arranged on the racks in the current store they were in. Mari leaned towards Asuka with a smug grin on her face. “I bet there’s a few things in here you could see her wearing.” Asuka tried her best to glare at Mari before shoving her face into her hoodie to hide her blush.

“But back to what you were saying Asuka.” Mari had a brief pause in her sentence as if she were thinking about something. “Kensuke is pretty shy do you think it might be a problem with me wearing things like this.” Asuka recovered from her blushing fit in enough time to deliver a jab in Mari’s direction. “Yeah you’re probably gonna give poor four eyes a heart attack if you show up dressed like that.”

Mari scrunched her brow in frustration. “Well I can’t help that I look great!” she pointed at herself as if to put emphasis on her statement.

Asuka rolled her eyes at her friends ego filled statement. “Don’t give yourself too much credit. Kensuke is probably so touch starved at this point he’d probaby go after stupid Shinji and Toji if they put on a wig.”

“Asuka you shouldn’t talk about our friends that way.” Rei scolded. Mari swore when Rei was disappointed in Asuka the girl looked like a puppy that was left in the rain.

“Ok that last part may have been a little uncalled for but you get where i’m going. Mari you just gotta tell four eyes to suck it up and deal with it.

“Look bro i’m not calling you a liar but you do realize Mari asking you to hang out is a little hard to believe.” Toji was currently trying his best to keep his arms at his sides, afraid that he would break any of the expensive camera equipment he that surrounded him in the small electronics store.

“Honestly I wouldn’t put anything past Mari.” Shinji added in, his brow furrowed in thought. “Asuka doesn’t bring her around the house often because she thinks you guys would embarrass her but she can be pretty eccentric.”

Kensuke was only half paying attention while he was crouched down eyes scanning the shelves like he had something already in mind. “She’s in my art class and wanted help for a shoot. To be honest guys i’m kinda nervous i've never done a shoot for modeling i've only done landscape shots.”

“You’re gonna do great man.” Toji slapped Kensuke on the back the large teenagers strength plus Kensuke not expecting it almost knocked him into the camera equipment before Toji hastily grabbed him and set him back on balance.

“Kensuke there’s nothing to be worried about you’re an amazing with cameras.” Shinji added a small smile on his lips

“Thanks guys.” Kensuke couldn't help but grin from his friends encouragement. He let out a small sigh as he reached out and grabbed what he was looking for. “There it is. It’s a tripod but you can rotate and zoom the camera remotely.” Kensuke showed the box to his friends but his description fell on deaf ears when they saw the price tag.

“It's that much!” they both screamed in unison. “Kensuke that's pretty expensive just to do one photo shoot.” Shinji added with a wobbling voice.

“Well i've been thinking about getting this for a while. I guess this is just the perfect excuse to bite the bullet.” Kensuke said sheepishly fumbling with the box in his hand

“Well speaking of bites can we get something to eat?” Toji said visibly impatient. “I've been thinking about the food court since we got here.”

Kensuke sighed as he began to walk towards the counter. “Yeah we should probably get something to eat before you start trying to eat the sim cards over there.”

The walk towards the food court was fairly short, or at least if felt short for Kensuke who had gotten lost in his own thoughts about Mari. A feeling that was still alien to him, he was pretty sure the feelings weren’t romantic with his less than ideal social status never really attempted to talk to girls other than Rei and Asuka when she was in a good mood. 

It also didn't help that Kensuke was terrible talking to girls…

He knew that it was a problem that would bite him in the ass some point down the line but Kensuke never had the guts to try and improve it with the only girl he talked to on a consistent basis was Rei and Misato but sometimes Misato made it a game to flirt with him to get under his skin. 

Kensuke wondered if that was why Mari was invading his thoughts so often. That this new working relationship could help him come out of his shell a little more, from their brief interaction he could tell she was confident and outgoing something he desperately lacked.

“Shinji remember that Misato is picking us up I don’t want to have to wait up on you again.” Kensuke’s thoughts were pushed to the back of his head when he turned around and saw Asuka looking at Shinji who was grabbing the food he had just ordered.

Shinji sighed. “Asuka I didn’t keep you waiting that lo-” He stopped his sentence when he noticed Asuka’s eye twitching in annoyance. “Yeah Asuka I won’t keep you waiting.” Before the three boys could begin to walk away Rei suddenly spoke up from her position behind Asuka. “Would you three care to join us for lunch? We would enjoy your company very much.”

Before either Shiji or Asuka could make up an excuse as to why they wouldn’t be able to Mari plowed through Rei and Asuka eyes never looking away from Kensuke. “Actually you guys don’t have an option because I wanna talk to Kensuke.” 

Mari’s comment caused everyone in the group to stare at the two incredulously, a reality that turned Kensuke into a blushing mess. “Yeah sure Mari we can sit with you guys.” Kensuke managed out barely a mumble.

“Great!” If Mari noticed the embarrassment radiating off of Kensuke she didn’t show it, grabbing Kensuke’s arm and began dragging him towards a table. The other four looked at each other for a brief moment before simply following along.

“So I was thinking we could do the shoot at the park, I mean the clothes I got for it are pretty sporty what do you think?” Kensuke finally got his wrist back from Mari’s surprisingly firm grip deciding to sit across from her with his food. 

“I was actually thinking about doing an outside photoshoot too usually natural light is a problem but since it's still summer time it shouldn't really be an issue so I like it.” Mari smile grew wider at Kensuke’s compliment, Snatching a fry off of his tray and taking a bite of it she replied. “Well wouldn't you know it me and you make a good team we might have to topple the modeling industry ourselves.”

Kensuke laughed at that…

Kensuke couldn't really remember the last time he was able to talk to a girl but it was nice. So Kensuke sat there for what felt like seconds listening to Mari ramble on about her previous blunders from her short modeling career, he realized how good Mari was at keeping a conversation going jumping from one topic to another and able to keep it interesting with little to no input from Kensuke.

Kensuke’s attention was quickly snatched from Mari when he saw Toji from the corner of his eye. He turned and saw Shinji and Toji looking at him mouths agape, Asuka who had a smirk on her face but at least had the courtesy of looking at her food as if she wasn't paying attention and Rei looking at both of them with a warm smile on her face.

Kensuke could immediately feel heat rising to his cheeks, scratching the back of his ear nervously he tried to act casual. “So uh is there something wrong?” no one decided to speak and Mari seemed pretty agitated that their conversation was being interrupted.

Rei was the one who broke the silence by excitedly clasping her hands together. “Oh there’s nothing wrong it’s just you two looked so cute together I really hope that we weren’t making this awkward.”

‘You were.’ Kensuke thought to himself.

“So why is everyone ganging up on Kensuke right now?” the sound of a chair being pulled out caused everyone's attention to a woman in her thirties taking a seat to the right of Shinji.

“Misato why are you here I thought you said to call you when we were ready?” Asuka looked at her with a puzzled expression.

“What I can’t check in and see what you guys are up to?” Misato leaned back into her chair to stretch. “You know Asuka i’m pretty cool for my age.”

Asuka simply shrugged at Misato’s response. “Well to answer your question we were just admiring Mari’s ability of taking all of Kensuke’s attention.” Kensuke internally groaned when he realized that he wasn't out of the conversation yet. “I’m pretty sure if we gave her another five minutes she could get him to join a cult.”

Kensuke could see that Mari was getting annoyed by Asuka’s comments something that he didn't like, he wouldn't be surprised if it was because of the thought of Mari ‘hitting on him’.

“You sound pretty jealous Asuka.” Mari’s coy grin came back realizing she could paint Asuka in a corner. “You know I wouldn't be opposed to giving you advice but you seem like you have things handled.”

Asuka huffed and decided to not keep going instead choosing to check her phone and exclude herself from the conversation. “Aww come on Asuka don’t gang up on Kensuke that’s not very nice.”

Asuka’s head immediately snapped up and turned around to see Kaji standing behind her grinning. “Kaji!” Asuka shot out of her chair and gave her caretaker a crushing hug that almost knocked him over. “I thought you weren’t supposed to be back yet?”

Kaji simply grinned at reciprocated the hug. “Well I was able to finish early and Misato had the great idea of me surprising you and Shinji so she drove me here after I got off the flight.”

Everyone at the table couldn't help but smile at Asuka, Misato decided to pipe up. “We should go to dinner and celebrate what do you guys say?”

“That’s a great idea Mrs Misato!”

“Toji you just ate 2 servings of food!”

“I’ll make room Shinji you know that.”

Kensuke began nervously fumbling with his hands. “I appreciate the offer but i’ve got to get home I have a couple chores I need to finish.” 

Kaji turned to Kensuke and smiled. “That’s alright Kensuke do you need a ride home?”

“Uh no thank you my dad said he’d pick me up.” Kensuke then waved a quick goodbye to everyone and started heading towards the entrance to the mall but the sound of footsteps getting closer caused him to turn around and see Mari approaching him.

“Hey uh Kensuke…” Mari wasn't looking at kensuke but instead was looking at the small handbag she had with her almost as if she was looking at it for the first time. “About tomorrow meet me at the park around noon ok?”

“Um sure thing Mari.” Kensuke could feel himself getting flustered again, something he wish would go away like it did earlier.

Kensuke felt his nervousness wade away a little when she looked up at him smiling, confidence apparent in her eyes. “You better not keep me waiting I can be pretty impatient.”

With that Mari turned on her heel and began walking back towards where the rest of the group was leaving Kensuke with a strange feeling that he couldn't describe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again sorry for the long wait but i'll be quitting my job soon which will give me way more time to write let me know what you guys think


	3. Pilot Jones

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well I said that I would be updating regularly... That was a lie wasn't it? Hope you guys enjoy this longer chapter as a token of peace.
> 
> A/N: One of my friends on discord mentioned to me I should probably explain why Rei is so talkative. Well in the Anime Gendo is very controlling of her and how she acts so without Gendo in the picture I figured that she would act a little more extroverted. hope it's not too jarring for the readers.

Kensuke drummed his fingers on his steering wheel as the car lurched forward into yet another parking lot he realized that he should have maybe asked Mari for her phone number so they could communicate. The information on where she’d be was received third hand from Shinji who was told by Asuka whom Mari had texted. When Kensuke simply asked Shinji if Asuka could give him her phone number she had personally snatched Shinji’s phone from him and texted Kensuke that was all he needed to know and she didn’t need to be bothered by any of the bonehead trio.

“Alright Kensuke she said she’d be by the pond at the picnic tables…” He said aloud looking around from where his car was currently sitting. The only problem being that he was now realizing that this park had a lot of ponds with him now being at his third one.

He contemplated just going home. Sure sitting next to her in art would be weird but he had only known the girl a couple days and he could easily make up an excuse like that he needed to help his dad with something or that he had a change in work schedule.

The longer he sat in his car the more doubts and excuses he could make came into his mind but he steeled his mind. ‘ _ Get a hold of yourself man just find her take a couple pictures and leave.’ _

He couldn’t help but nervously blush realizing this is the first time he had hung out with a girl outside of school. Sure he had hung out with Rei and Asuka but it was more of them just being there when he had been with Shinji. It also didn’t help that Asuka took every chance she could to sneak jabs at Kensuke.

His train of thought was ripped from him when frantic tapping on his window nearly giving him a heart attack. “There you are slowpoke I was starting to think you were standing me up!” Mari’s voice was slightly muffled through the window but didn’t prevent her from speaking to him.

When Kensuke finally confirmed to himself that he wasn’t getting mugged on a saturday afternoon and that it was just Mari he finally was able to roll down the window and speak. “Sorry all I got was that you’d be by a pond.” he managed out between ragged breaths.

“I asked Asuka if you needed my number but she said you knew where to go.” Mari said looking back towards the water. “But yeah I guess there’s more than one pond.” She ended the last statement with a nervous chuckle.

Kensuke just grumbled to himself. He should have figured that Asuka wouldn’t want him to have one of her friends but it still didn’t give him back the twenty minutes he wasted looking for her.

When Kensuke looked back at Mari they locked eyes for a quick moment all Kensuke saw was Mari’s excitement which practically radiated off of her. She was smiling so hard that her eyes were practically shut and like it was magic, Kensuke's previous anxieties about the situation was replaced by a blush.

Luckily for Kensuke Mari never saw it since she was already moving to his passenger side where all of his camera equipment was sitting. “Well it’s a good thing that I got my Tetanus shot.” Mari joked before opening his door.

Kensuke’s car was a rust bucket and there was no sense in denying it…

When Kensuke was twelve he had seen the car sitting on the edge of a farmers field with a for sale sign on the windshield. He recognized the model from some street racing movie he had seen and proudly proclaimed to his dad that that car would be his first car. His dad laughed it off and told him if it was still there when he was sixteen he could.

Well when Kensuke turned sixteen and got his license they were looking for a car and Kensuke reminded his dad of the car and sure enough the car was still there. The car had not looked new when it was sitting there when the boy was twelve and sitting in a field for four years had not done it any justice either.

When Kensuke’s father met with the man to talk about it the man was honest and told him of every problem it had and any replaced parts but for Kensuke he knew that it was the car he needed.

Kensuke had never been shy about his car and brushed off any jokes Asuka or Toji made about it. He even proudly proclaimed that it was a stick shift even though he was still a new driver and the car lurches forward every time he changed gears. But right now when Mari was opening the car door did he feel any sense of bashfulness.

When Mari started picking up his camera equipment slinging a bag over each shoulder Kensuke’s blush only deepened. “Oh you don’t have to do that I can get that by myself.”

“Oh I don’t doubt it. But hey the less trips the merrier right?” Mari said while she wasn’t looking at him which he was silently grateful for he could still see her excitement clearly written all over her face. 

Mari when she realized there was no more that she could feasibly carry turned and began walking towards the water. A small bit of Kensuke was worried about her dropping anything and breaking it but the majority of his brain power was concerned on calming himself down again. ‘ _ For crying out loud man you’re just helping out a… Friend?’ _

Kensuke finally looked over and realized that the only things Mari had left Kensuke to carry was the tripod and a battery so he picked up the two items and began his way towards the picnic table where Mari was placing the rest of the equipment.

Kensuke began setting the battery and tripod on the table and felt the sudden urge he was being watched. When he turned around he noticed that there was a family a little ways down staring at the both of them.

“Uh Mari do you know them?” Kensuke asked not taking his eyes off of them.

Mari never looked up at Kensuke too busy looking at everything he had brought with him. “Oh them? Yeah I just met the mom while you were in the car, she was saying how lousy of a boyfriend you were for making me carry everything.”

Kensuke couldn’t help but audibly groan at the situation. Hearing the context only made the weight of their glares make him more embarrassed, but Mari only chuckled somehow finding a way of seeing the humor in the situation.

When she was finally done looking at the bags she began waving an arm at the family to bring their attention from Kensuke to her. “Don’t you guys worry about him! He’s already being put in the doghouse!”

Kensuke brought his shoulders to his ears in an attempt to cover how bad they were heating up. “Aw come on Mari why’d you have to do that?”

Mari just giggled and shrugged her shoulders. “It seemed really funny and they seemed pretty concerned about me.”

Kensuke finally felt his body temperature go down he just shook his head and began to unpack his camera equipment. ‘ _ Well I see what Asuka and her have in common.’ _

Kensuke zoned out a bit while assembling his camera just letting his mind wander and process this entire situation and how he wants to shoot it. He looks out over the water and how much natural light they had. He chose his lens accordingly, and began fiddling with his camera's settings.

Eventually Kensuke finally focused back on the world around him for a split second. When he looked up to see Mari was looking at him. She never moved a muscle when she noticed that Kensuke was looking at her, she had her chin propped up on her hands from where she sat at the Picnic table, a ghost of a smile on her lips.

“Can uh… Is there a problem?” Kensuke asked feeling his body betray him again as his ears began heating up.

Mari just giggled and shook her head. “No there’s nothing wrong it’s just usually that boys like talking about their hobbies and explaining them to girls and stuff.” Mari stopped speaking for a couple moments, almost inviting Kensuke to jump into the conversation. “So what are you doing?”

Kensuke mentally slapped himself on missing the queue to speak. “Uh yeah i'm just setting up a lens and the camera settings since we’re gonna be working in natural light.” Kensuke spoke way too fast and fumbled over every second word. 

Mari never reacted to Kensuke’s embarrassment. “I guess that makes sense. Different settings for different areas…” 

The two were silent while Kensuke set the camera on the tripod and began fiddling with the settings some more. When Kensuke finally got everything adjusted the way he wanted to he looked over to Mari. “You think you’re ready?”

Mari half scoffed at Kensuke’s question as she got up from the bench. “Of course i’m ready! I’m practically bursting at the seams here.”

Kensuke doesn't even remember what he was gonna say because all motor function left him the second Mari started to lift her hoodie above her head…

“I uhh. I mean um…” Kensuke couldn't even attempt to hide the blush that had painted his entire face crimson when Mari was standing in front of him with only a pair of leggings and a sports bra on.

“What? I told you that I was going to wear sports attire?” When Mari had finished her statement she remembered what Asuka had told her when they were at the mall. “This isn’t an issue is it?”

Kensuke finally snapped back to reality when Mari asked him that and was able to form a little bit of a cohesive sentence. “No… No it won’t be at all.”

Mari seemed to believe his answer since she smiled at him and began to walk in front of the camera right at the line of the water.

After she got herself ready Kensuke stepped behind the camera to make sure she was inside the frame. “Alright…” He murmured to himself barely above a whisper. “Three two one.” After his countdown the only sound cutting through their silence was the soft click of a camera after every shot.

It only took a few photos for Kensuke to spot a problem. Mari looked so stiff in her pose that it actually was making Kensuke uncomfortable just looking at her.

“Hey if you could move your hand from behind your head and place it lower.” Kensuke said behind the camera but through the lens he saw Mari’s brow furrow which caused him to look out from the camera towards her. “Is there something wrong?”

“I know what I'm doing Kensuke.” It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Kensuke’s advice had rubbed Mari the wrong way. Kensuke decided it would be better if he didn’t prod the situation any further, not wanting to make Mari think he was trying to insult her he resumed taking pictures.

It only took a couple more pictures before the same gripe he had kept clawing at his mind. He could easily tell it would look so much better if she wouldn’t look so frozen. Kensuke summoned what little courage he had in this situation and began to walk from behind the camera towards Mari.

“Hey why aren't you taking any more-” Mari stopped speaking when she realized Kensuke was reaching out to her. Very slowly so it was more of a request and when she looked at him she couldn't figure out if he was smiling or grimacing.

She never moved when he gently touched her wrist that was placed from behind her head. Kensuke began to slowly lower her wrist. “Instead of placing it behind your head you can place it on your hip.” Kensuke was visibly nervous about what he was doing, and Mari almost could respect what he was doing.

But her pride began to creep from the back of her head and before she could think it ran right out of her mouth. “Oh I see you just want an excuse to touch me don’t you?” Mari snapped. Her words lacked any playfulness that had been there every other time she had spoken to him.

Kensuke Immediately dropped her hand and stepped back like she had burned him. Kensuke’s reaction was like Mari had cold water dumped on her, The silence surrounding them was heavy and she desperately wanted to say something, anything but for once She didn’t know what to say to him.

After a couple more moments of quiet Mari slowly placed her own hand on her hip. “You mean like this?” Mari asked Kensuke her voice hid any apprehension she had.

Kensuke finally looked up from the ground towards Mari seeing the pose she had made. “Yeah…” Mari looked at his attempt at a smile which only showed a grimace, Making Mari’s guilt even worse than before.

When Kensuke turned around to get back behind the camera Mari didn’t move a muscle. She figured the least she could do was stay still, When Kensuke finally leaned down to look through the lens he paused. He took the camera off of the tripod and took a step closer to her, crouching down she heard two soft clicks before he stood up.

He turned the camera towards her but when she tried to stand next to him he slightly leaned away from her, it was almost not noticeable but it only made the knot in Mari’s stomach tighten.

But when she looked at the camera she couldn’t contain the small gasp that escaped her. The difference was night and day Mari couldn't argue with it, a small part of her couldn't believe that she was the one that was in the photos.

“Wow…” Mari only managed out a whisper, it felt like forever that she looked at the photo before turning to Kensuke. “You were right this is just… Amazing.”

Kensuke knew she wasn’t lying, he couldn't prevent a small smile coming across his face and he realized what this moment was between the two, an olive branch and he happily accepted it. “Well do you wanna take a few more?”

Mari grinned ear to ear and without answering practically skipped back to where she had been standing.

Kensuke let soft clicks fill the air as he kept taking more and more photo’s of her but when some shade from a nearby tree moved out of the way casting the light in a perfect angle he felt his own breath being taken away from him.

Everyone who went to their school would say Mari was attractive, hell even Asuka couldn't argue against it but at that moment Kensuke really understood why everyone said that.

The light cascaded off of her, her hair shining off of the sun giving her an almost ethereal look. Kensuke tried his best to not focus on it and keep his mind on taking pictures but that only brought more attention to every curve and detail of her.

“I think we should be good now.” Kensuke was snapped back into consciousness by Mari speaking.

When she finally let go of her pose she began to lightly stretch lightly massaging her lower back with the palms of her hands. Kensuke was able to not stare by turning back towards the table instead putting his focus on disassembling his camera and putting everything back into their respective bags.

Mari eventually followed suit after her impromptu stretch routine. Carrying Kensuke’s tripod with her, She attempted to collapse the tripod like how she saw Kensuke do it but to no avail.

“Don’t worry about it I’ll get it.” Kensuke placed his camera down and proceeded to break the tripod down and place it in its case making it look effortless. 

“You had to show me up didn’t you?” Mari asked the question playfully which forced a nervous laugh out of Kensuke who tried to hide his blush by going back to his camera.

They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes making sure everything was properly packed and double checking that he hadn’t forgotten anything. He began to sling some of his bags over his shoulders before Mari stopped him.

“Well hold on Kensuke. I packed Lunch for both of us.” When Mari blurted that out she paused a moment before quickly looking down at her hands. “I figured the least I could do is feed you.”

Kensuke could only stare at Mari in disbelief, He then looked over and noticed the small lunch box that had been sitting at the table the entire time wondering to himself how he never noticed it. “Yeah um… I mean yeah sure.”

Kensuke placed the bags on the bags on the far end of the table and sat down across from her who was in the process of pulling out two sandwiches. “I hope you like sandwiches because that is about all I can make.” Kensuke let out a light chuckle at her comment.

Mari looked at him with a grin of her own. “You think I’m joking I have absolutely zero cooking ability.” Kensuke could only raise an eyebrow at her before taking a cautious bite into his sandwich.

The two spent the majority of their lunch in silence, Kensuke finished has sandwich after Mari,wiping his hands off he contemplated if he should leave or not before Mari could ask him a question. “So what got you into photography?”

Kensuke was taken aback by her question. He honestly couldn’t remember the last time anyone had ever asked them that, anyone outside of his friend group kinda just accepted him as the ‘ _ Camera guy.’ _

“Well my mom had apparently been a photographer way before I was even born so I guess it was just genetic.” Mari seemed to accept his response. Kensuke realizing that this was a perfect opportunity to keep the conversation going he decided to follow up. “So what got you into modeling?”

Mari’s eyes lit up at his question taking no time for her to form a response. “Well when I was little my mom always signed me up for beauty pageants and I was really good at them. But I got a little older and kinda grew out of them so I guess modeling was the next step I wanted to take.” 

Kensuke leaned forward, genuinely interested in her story. “Was your mom upset that you stopped doing them?”

Mari giggled at his question. “Well not to start off, but we came to an agreement that if I would do cheerleading I could stop doing pageants. I mean I can’t complain I got to meet Asuka and Hikari through it.”

Kensuke let out a soft laugh. “Well I think that’s the first time anyone has been exited that they got to meet Asuka.”

Mari just shook her head. “Oh she’s not that bad, I met way worse people in pageants. Heck My first pageant was in kindergarden and a girl tripped during my routine and she won the pageant because of it.”

Kensuke leaned forward in disbelief. “Wait she tripped you and then won?”

Mari tucked a couple stray hairs behind her ear before letting out a nervous giggle. “Well when she went to the front of the stage to accept her medal I walked up behind her and pushed her off.” Kensuke gasped at the statement but then let out a laugh at the pure bizarreness of it.

“Well my dad thought it was funny too.” Mari added watching Kensuke laugh. “My mom on the other hand grounded me for a month.”

Kensuke kept laughing which turned Mari a certain color of red. “Come on Kensuke you can’t tell me you don’t have an embarrassing story from when you were little.” 

Kensuke’s laughter died down but his smile never wavered. “Well let me think…” Kensuke pondered for a few seconds before his eyes widened. “When I was eight my mom took me to a lake to take pictures with her. Well I wandered off and found a few swans and decided to take some photos of them.”

“Aw I love swans they are so beautiful!” Mari cooed. 

Kensuke responded to her with a level glare. “You’ve never met a swan have you?”

“No I don’t see why that’s a problem.”

Kensuke just shook his head before continuing with his story. “Well I decide to get closer to them and they just surround me!” Kensuke begins waving his hands in the air as he tells his story as if he can recreate the scene. “They start by just honking at me then they start pecking me, so I of course sprint back to my mom while they are just following me the whole way.”

Mari couldn't help but laugh at his recount of the experience and decided to prod him on. “So How did you get rid of them?”

Kensuke scratches his neck nervously. “Well I didn't, my mom ended up shooing them away, But I got in the car and refused to get out the entire day.”

They both shared a laugh and when it died down Mari decided to change subject. “So I never asked you if I was paying you or not.” 

The sudden change in conversation caught Kensuke off guard. “Well uh I wouldn't worry about it, I mean I needed to get practice on taking photos of people anyways and you fed me so that’s payment enough.”

Mari squinted at Kensuke before adding on. “I’m not cheap Kensuke payment really isn’t an issue…”

Kensuke smiled at Mari’s insistence and tried forming a response. “How about this if you need another shoot just call me and i’ll come down no questions asked?”

Mari grinned at his response and saw an opportunity. “Oh I didn’t realize you had that much fun Kensuke.”

Kensuke flushed again and decided to hide his face by checking his watch. “Well as much as I’d love to stay I gotta get home and get changed before I head to work.”

Mari tilted her head. “Wait, you have a job? I thought you did this for money.”

Kensuke scratched the back of his head. “Well you kinda need clients for you to get paid. I just do this as a side hobby really...”

Mari helped Kensuke pick up all his camera gear, again picking up most of the bags just to get a rise out of the family the other direction, an action that made kensuke redden in embarrassment as he only had a few items in tow himself.

“Well if anyone asks me for a photographer I’ll definitely give them your name and my seal of approval.” Mari gave him a thumbs up that made Kensuke smirk.

“I appreciate that Mari, thanks for the lunch.” Kensuke gave her a quick wave before getting into his car. 

Mari waved him one last goodbye before walking back down towards the pond out of sight from Kensuke. Once he lost sight of her he put his car in gear and proceeded to drive off, the quiet from the car now felt foreign to him and almost empty.

His car lurched forward and rattled all the way to Kensuke’s house when he pulled into his driveway he noticed that Toji was next door.

The two had been neighbors their whole lives and Kensuke honestly couldn’t remember a time where they hadn’t been best friends. Kensuke proceeded to hop the small fence separating the two yards and making his way towards Toji who was playing basketball.

Toji noticed Kensuke from the corner of his eye and turned to face him, a giant grin spread across his face. “What’s up Kensuke? How was your little photoshoot?” 

Kensuke nervously waved at Toji before taking a seat in the grass and running his hands through his hair.

“It was weird man…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Any and all criticism is accepted so leave it down below until next time guys.


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